Microsoft

Microsoft has admitted that last week's IE security patches did cripple the browser for some users, but rather than rework the fix, the company has offered a registry hack workaround.

The confirmation and workaround came a week after users installed Security Update MS07-069 on 11 December, and users began reporting they were unable to connect to the Internet with IE or that the browser kept crashing. MS07-069, one of seven bulletins issued on December's "Patch Tuesday," fixed four critical vulnerabilities in IE 5.01, IE6 and IE7.

Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) has released to the public a near-final version of a major update to its Windows XP operating system.

As of Wednesday, the 'Release Candidate' for Windows XP Service Pack 3 was available as a 336 Mbyte download from Microsoft's Web site. The software had previously been available only to participants in Microsoft's official test programs.

Microsoft Corp. confirms that it is investigating reports that a security update for Internet Explorer issued last week has crippled some users' ability to get on the Web with the browser.

Users started posting messages to multiple Microsoft support newsgroups almost immediately after Microsoft released the MS07-069 security bulletin on Dec. 11, saying that they were unable to connect to the Internet, either because IE refused to open or because when it did open, it could not reach various sites.

Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) has released a detailed roster of the contents of its forthcoming service pack for Windows Vista, and the list includes more than 300 hot fixes covering everything from data protection to video performance.
The list, recently posted on Microsoft's Web site, can be downloaded as a 47-page document that the company says is not exhaustive. Microsoft plans to add more fixes and patches to Windows Vista SP1 before a final version is released to the public early next year.

Microsoft has revealed that it filed 52 lawsuits in the last six months in its fight against piracy. The lawsuits, which span 13 countries, have been filed against resellers caught selling counterfeit Microsoft software at online marketplaces.

Out of the 52 lawsuits, 15 are filed against the commercial counterfeit organization raided by the Chinese authorities, FBI and Microsoft early this year, the company said. It also reported counterfeit copies of their digital goods cost members of the worldwide software industry an estimated $40 billion annually.

Leading up to next week’s public beta-test release of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Release Candidate, Microsoft today has published a 17-page document outlining in fine detail exactly what difference SP1 makes to Vista.

Criminals don't care how much money you earn, where you live or even what operating system you use - if you're online, you're fair game. That was the message this week from Microsoft's chief security advisor in the UK, Ed Gibson.

Former FBI agent Gibson was speaking at a Microsoft event in the heart of London's west end. Microsoft teamed up with Prevx and Get Safe Online to demonstrate the speed and ease with which criminals can target poorly protected PCs and networks.

Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) thinks the fact that no two people look at an inkblot the same way can be used to help generate more secure computer passwords.

The company has set up a Web site that shows users a series of Rorschach-style inkblots -- of the sort used in psychological profiling -- and then asks them to write down the first and last letters of each word they associate with the pictures.

A limo speeds away from Seattle's Pioneer Square carrying an unlikely party on an unusual quest.

A group of security researchers and a member of Microsoft's security response team have bonded, in search of--a haircut.

Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) on Tuesday said it will cease hobbling Windows Vista installations that fail the company's validation processes in its forthcoming Service Pack 1 update, scheduled for next year.